Day of Remembering...

Here's a story that I probably should be embarressed to tell- but it's true, so I'll post it. On our honeymoon in Hawaii, Chip and I had a day to spend in Honolulu. [We spent 8 days on the island of Kauai, and everything you read and hear about this island of paradise is true. Jump at the chance if you ever get one to go there.] So, in Honolulu we didn't have an agenda and started walking around enjoying the scenery. To me it just looked like another metro area- besides the warm, moist weather;I could have been in any number of big cities.
Chip says, "Lets go check out Pearl Harbor. We have to see it while we're here." Me- "What's the big deal? I'm not standing in line for 3 hours just to take a boat out to a memorial. Let's go check out the Armani store." Here we are arguing on our honeymoon- ultimately we take the boat out to the memorial where I say something really intelligent like, "This is what we just spent three hours waiting in line to see? A big cement block on top of a sunken ship?"
Fast forward- several years later and lots of life experiences under my belt, so I am a bit more sensitive and much more mature- we're watching the movie, Pearl Harbor. I'm glued to the screen and having a hard time watching the horror of Pearl Harbor unfold. I say something to Chip similar to this, "That's what happened at the place we went to on our honeymoon? Why didn't you tell me that's where we were....and that's what happened to people in real life...and that it's a sacred place....and that a part of us is owed to those people who suffered and paid the price for what we have today?!" I got it.
I think that there are so many people in America today, walking around- even at famous memorial sites- that don't really get it. Our freedoms are taken for granted more often than not. I know I claimed I wasn't going to use this sight for political purposes, but this isn't about being Democrat, Independant, Republican, or any other party you choose.
Today is Veteran's Day. We should all be humbled and extremely thankful for the people who have given their lives to protect the rights and freedoms that we enjoy everyday. They are heroes who rarely get the recognition they deserve for such selfless acts they have performed. I think of the families who have stood behind them...and I thank them today as well.